and 20's. that means the snow will remain slick right across the area through the overnight hours. the system is moving fast. is already tapering off in the baltimore area. a little bit more on the shore and the bay, and then it will be gone. let said outside to george. he has been monitoring how things are going. we expect things will be done anytime now. the cold conditions may linger for a while. >> tom, you are exactly right. this snow has tapered up significantly. but we are hearing of a host of accidents. and that is really is slowing and life down for a lot of motorists tonight. interstate's like 83 here are holding up pretty well. the pavement is what and there is/-- there is slush.

people should be careful of those neighborhood roads. we had a difficult time navigating those roads to get to our live location tonight. the state police have to sell trucks out. officials are monitoring the conditions very closely, especially as the threat for freezing approaches tonight. howard and carroll county high of declared emergencies. and this will affect where people can park. >> you can see updated school and government closings on our website and mobile app, and you can get closing alerts in your e-mail and phone. go to wbaltv.com and click on weather. now an update to a story we first brought you a 5:00. it was down one man was shot just after 4:00 this afternoon

off ridgely road. the incident did impact light rail service. two arrests tonight in connection with the murder of a teenage girl in southwest baltimore. police say tevin hines and dorrien allen shot to death michelle adrian during a robbery that turned violent. in addition to murder charges, the men are facing charges for attempted murder because of another man was shot during the incident. he is expected to recover. >> and a surprise witness for the prosecution today during the trial of michael johnson. he is the man accused of killing phylicia barnes. jayne miller is live at the courthouse with details. >> that i witness has yet to take the stand. he will be used by prosecutors

to fill in a big blank in their case. but the defense says do not trust him. in opening statements, prosecutors suggested a love triangle might be a work in phylicia barnes's murder. they painted michael johnson as the unfaithful boyfriend of her sister. they planned to show a video of michael johnson being intimate with her sister while locking phylicia barnes barnes. but defense lawyers said this was not about promiscuity. "this is about the tragic loss of one young woman's life and the states rushed to justice." be prosecutors unveiled a surprise witness, a man who says he saw the body of barnes on the day she disappeared. they describe him as the acquaintance of the johnson. he said there was of a body on

the bed, the body of phylicia barnes. it may be the strongest evidence the prosecutors have to link johnson to the death, but the defense says the witness cannot be believed. the witness is a jailhouse snitch, the defense lawyers said, a lawyer who does not know anything about this case. they got before the jury a statement that the sister initially made to police. when asked who would want to harm phylicia barnes, she said the older sister. prosecutors said that she made horrible mistakes and was too permissive in her supervision phylicia barnes. wbal tv-11 news. >> us small victory for county executive -- a small victory for county executive john leopold as

the judge decided to drop a charge in his misconduct case. the defense asked to drop all the charges in that case. in the end, the judge decided to dismiss a misconduct charge that had to do with the theft of his political opponent's campaign signs. the judge said not enough evidence was presented to show the law was broken. he still faces three misconduct charges and a fraud charge. fasten your seatbelts. there are more gas tax increase proposals floating around annapolis than gas fumes at the pumps. the governor is keeping score. he joins us live from annapolis with more. are we going to have this gas tax or not? >> let me tell you, rob, it feels inevitable, but -- let me tell you, rod, it feels inevitable, but who really knows? there are no shortage of ideas. there are 10 proposals and

counting. there are more gas tax proposals than fumes around the pomps. >> my hope is we can get support behind a set of ideas. >> proposals include allowing the local governments to raise taxes 10 cents per gallon. but they can only use the money for local transportation projects. >> we ask for hundreds of millions of dollars of transportation projects and then they say do not raise the gas tax. basically i am putting this back on them. >> the senate president is suggesting that the state sell a private operator and use the funds to pay for light rail expansion in montgomery and baltimore city. >> we need to give the governor to comment on the. >> rule republicans do not want their constituents to continue

subsidizing mass-transit. >> no other state has the kind of dependency. any conversation where we are removing that or providing an alternative funding source is very positive. >> the discussion includes raising the sales tax by 3% and applying it to gasoline at the wholesale level. last year, governor malloy push for a 6% increase. >> we will probably be making a similar proposal. >> 90% of those surveyed in a gonzales poll said it was important to improve the transportation system, but only 6% favor an increase in the gas tax to pay for the. a house subcommittee is reviewing best practices across the country. >> we're trying to find what will be beneficial to maryland. >> at the moment, none of these are in bill form. next week, several of the proposals are supposed to be officially introduced.

wbal tv-11 news. >> david, thank you. new information on the status of baltimore city's speed and red light camera programs. both remain shut down. according to transportation officials, and audit as underway to determine if motorists should receive a refund. and they are working on what they call this incentive measures -- disincentive measures. during a meeting, it was revealed that they have stretched the definition of a school zone. >> still to come on 11 news at 6:00. >> i am rob roblin. the super plungers just keep on plunging. a live report, coming up. >> a young man who bet on himself and 1. we will about that, straight

ahead in sports. >> insta-weather plus, straight ahead. 19 at dwi marshall. 23 at the inner harbor. >> you are watching wbal-tv 11 news. live, local, late breaking. this is 11 news at 6:00 p.m. with rod daniels and donna forecast withre tom tasselmyer, 11 sports with gerry san

>> how about taking a frigid plunge for good cause? that is what thousands are doing in anne arundel kathy. >> it is for a good cause. its been since the state special olympics program. last year they raised $2 million. this year they hope to do even better. rob roblin is there live. robbie, you have talked to all those guys? >> you are absolutely right. we all know him at wbal. 10 years ago, he and greg shipley and a few other people started as. he has been fighting cancer. but he has been doing great.

doing great. how are you doing? >> gray. >> if you cannot plunge this year, but they are plunging for you. the are not just plunging every hour. they are going twice. >> three times every hour. >> jimmy, you have inspired some many people. >> if he is the guy who gets us through this mess that we are pointing to right here. >> how are you doing? >> now that jimmy is here, definitely gives us a boost of adrenalin. >> you know what? when jimmy came in, everybody started screaming. jimmy, i know you love that to go sit in your chair. do you want to go in. which -- do you want to go in? which plunges this? >> i do not know. >> everybody all right?

are you all right, jimmy? make sure you are all right. he has been fighting cancer or two years, leukemia. he looks great, doesn't he? leave them out, jimmy? leave them out. -- lead them out. >> that is good. [laughter] >> all right, everybody. [cheering] >> everybody is cheering. oh, yeah. put on leave ravens game pays. joe flacco is a big supporter of special olympics. he is not here. he will be playing in the super bowl. all the ravens have been big supporters of special olympics. jimmy, we love you. so grateful that you are here. all the super plungers, they are

just getting started. oh, yeah. we will be here all night and tomorrow morning. i know there is some snow out here. everything is go to mark. , down. we will see you tomorrow. reporting live, rob roblin, wbal tv-11 news. >> take care of yourself, robbie, and make sure that they are taking care of jimmy, too. if you want to text a message to someone taking the plunge -- text to 80509. we will show as many as we can on the saturday morning news. it is inspiring, isn't it? >> it is. to see these young men -- they are like rock stars. >> it is so-called. it is 22 degrees is right now. -- it is so cold. they certainly need jimmy there to keep them inspired, because

it is a long, cold nights ahead. the water temperatures in the mid-38's. -- mid-30's. the problem is, behind this snow maker tonight, gusty northwest winds. low 30's that will feel like low 20's tomorrow afternoon. at least there will be sunshine tomorrow. look how fast this clipper is moving through the area. like coating of snow. the snow coming down on ocean beach at this hour. today, the high was only 23 people in the morning low was 11. cold stuff for sure. it will stay chilly throughout the night. the weather service will keep the winter weather advisory going, even though the snowfall will persist for a while and it is a winter storm warning in the

western maryland mountains. a light dusting of snow in most areas. the blue shade -- the darker blue is the one to 3 inches of snow. 16 in westminster. 18 in hagerstown. annapolis' 20. easton 21. mostly 12 to 18 degrees for the overnight low. out in the west virginia mountains, we will be off the coast early tonight and tomorrow morning. behind this, the high-pressure comes in. clearer skies. lookout cold it is. that is the chill. now, the mark -- 40's and 50's. that will try to get here next week. the leading edge of that could cause more precipitation. sunny skies for saturday and sunday, with temperatures not

very warm, and here comes that burst of warmer air across the ohio valley into the mid- atlantic. monday morning rush-hour. snow, sleet, or freezing rain early monday morning as temperatures tried to return. tomorrow, not warm. a brisk northwest wind pushing wind chills into the teens and low were 20's. western part of the state -- 19. great conditions for skiers. eastern shore, look forward to a sunny weekend. high temperatures 30 tomorrow, 34 on sunday. on the beach at ocean city tomorrow, you get some sunshine and mostly sunny on sunday as well. seven-day forecast, you get through the cold weekend and the temperatures turnaround abed. we have that wintry mix on monday morning. then another cold front starts to drop temperatures by next friday. we will be back below freezing. >> this is 11 sports.

>> for the ravens, not getting what they wanted five years ago has helped put them in the super bowl this year. they wanted five years ago to take met ryan as their first pick. they could not do at. joe flacco instead. the same thing with john harbaugh. they offered the job to the cowboys' head coach. is one of the biggest nos in nfl history. ozzie newsome has made great decisions, and he is the first to tell you, you need a little rough along the way on the road to the super bowl. >> you know how hard it is to get to the super bowl. and now you ought to go and when it. but 12 years. we got knocked out in the afc

championship. it is hard. >> williams has become a consistent impact player and the raven secondary. pete trying to us from ravens camp. he looks like a big winner now. >> yes, he bet on himself. he had a $15 million contract offer. he said, thank you. i want to see what happens if i become a free agent. he became the no. 1 quarterback on this team. he responded with four interceptions including two in the last game, including one that with the ravens and to the super bowl. he had some struggles. he was beaten several times, but the ups and downs, that is part of what forges the fire for him and his team. >> the lowest point might have

been us going to that three-game winning streak and losing does to injury and things like that. but do you know what? we continue to battle through it. and we were able to transform those low points into high points, and we continue that and hopefully we will have continued success. >> and if he does leave and be a free agent, then ozzie can look at another guy he signed, corey grant. >> good stuff. and of course, smith, part of the picture, could see a lot of him in the super bowl. the orioles start spring training in less than a month. the all-star pitcher has agreed to a one-year deal. he started just 10 games for the braves last season.

he spent much of the year in aaa. he has to mind a crowded list who hope to fill the orioles' starting rotation. still to come, tom

>> here is a look to what we

are working on for 11 news tonight. he is a convicted child rapist. now john merzbacher will remain behind bars. plus, old man winter is getting his revenge this week.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> at least to the snow is

tapering off a little bit. >> of cold weakened though, coming up. >> thank you for joining us.